A former aide to Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa has sent letters to his lawyers alleging that prosecutors used threatening methods to question him after he was arrested on charges of cooking the books for Ozawa's political fund management body, sources said Monday.
Lawyers for Tomohiro Ishikawa, now a House of Representatives lawmaker, submitted the letters as evidence to the pretrial session of judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers for the case at the Tokyo District Court.
The letters allege that written statements signed by Ishikawa were made under threat from the prosecutor and thus "lack credibility," the sources said.